


Can You Feel the Silence?

by lostatsea



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, But it's summer, M/M, but they're high school aged
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 02:41:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10732461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostatsea/pseuds/lostatsea
Summary: Josh's mom looked at him with raised eyebrows with each encounter, offering to drive him around to the mall or go some place to eat. Even Tyler was starting to nag at Josh, texting him constantly and trying to drag him out of his funk. Tyler even offered to come to Josh's house, but Josh had a plethora of lies in his back-pocket to dissuade him.Josh simply did not want to go out.





	Can You Feel the Silence?

Josh knew that he was obsessive about many things in his life.

Whenever he had an upcoming test in school, he'd obsess about it. Normal people would study a bit, probably even procrastinate, but the quiz wouldn't be engraved in every one of their waking thoughts. For Josh, it was exactly like that, and his mind couldn't seem to focus on anything else.

Whenever he had a pain or an ache, he'd be consumed with only that thought. Normal people would pop an Advil and it would obliviate from their minds, but Josh couldn't leave the idea alone. With an endless possibility of deadly diseases circulating his mind, the physical pain would cycle into mental discomfort, and a spiral of downhill, irrational thoughts would begin.

However, despite his constant worrying, Josh had never imagined his anxiety would grow this bad.

It was summer, and he was used to staying inside, mostly within the protection of the four walls of his bedroom. He'd play video games until the moon had been hanging for hours, and he'd wake up late into the afternoon, nearly years after the sun had risen. He'd dabble with some drums throughout the day, continue with more gaming, and repeat that pattern.

There was little to no reason to change that cycle, and Josh even preferred to stay cooped up in his house all day. There was less opportunity for the judgement of strangers indoors and less chance of something unfavorable happening. The world was a critical, scary place.

And so his spending days in the house unraveled into weeks, but Josh was perfectly fine with that. In fact, just the thought of him stepping into the outdoors had started to make him feel nauseous. The comfort of his indoor routine was a sanctuary with nothing harmful getting in the way, and he was destined make it stay like that.

Even when his mother encouraged him to step outside, or his friends created plans to hang out, Josh would reject, fabricating some excuse about other things that needed to be done.

But when those isolated weeks evolved into a month, the cause for concern started to heighten. Josh's mom looked at him with raised eyebrows with each encounter, offering to drive him around to the mall or go some place to eat. Even Tyler was starting to nag at Josh, texting him constantly and trying to drag him out of his funk. Tyler even offered to come to Josh's house, but Josh had a plethora of lies in his back-pocket to dissuade him. 

There was simply nothing wrong with wanting to stay inside, right?

Not exactly, especially when the thought of leaving the house had started to keep him up late into the night. He would huddle into his pillow and curl on his side exhaustively, muttering desperate pleas to help him untie whatever boundaries where caging him inside. Every time that happened, he would always consider reaching out for help and shooting a text to Tyler, but that meant confronting his problem and dragging it into reality. That, of course, was out of the picture to Josh. 

And so he'd wake up that next morning with this stomach entangled in knots, frustrated at his lack of a solution to the previous night's struggles. 

Drumming and video games became a refuge. He could always slam his drumsticks, charged with rage, and produce pounding rhythms to represent all he couldn't solve. He could also always stay up thirty minutes later to complete the next level in his game, a way to prove that he was worthy of something, he was doing something with his life. 

Tyler tried to reach out numerous times from there. He was always looking to strike up a conservation, eager to make Josh laugh or hear an explain as to what was going on. However, Tyler had started to be greeted with the abandoned face of radio silence, and his efforts to reach out grew more tiring each time. 

Josh swallowed guilt when he ignored his best friend's messages, but isolation was his nicotine. It was simply too challenging to break his ways. 

Until Tyler decided to break them himself. He couldn't handle the silence. 

He found himself standing at the door to Josh's house, nerves piling in his stomach. It took him a moment to collect the courage to place a knock on the door (he knocked twice, the first time very faintly, but the second time with a bit more confidence). 

It was around seven at night, but the summer sun was still suspended. Although Tyler knew that it was an awkward time to show up at someone's doorstep without warning, the thought of Josh being along for so long had tormented him all day. He had to do something, he had to show Josh he cared, he had to-

The door opened. But it was not Josh. Instead, a grinning Mrs. Dun, eyebrows raised in surprise, welcomed Tyler in. 

"It's been so long since I've seen you, Tyler!" She exclaimed, heading to the kitchen promptly. "Would you like anything to drink? Or even to eat? I've got some juice in the fridge, if you'd like." 

Tyler smiled at her thoughtfulness; Mrs. Dun was always most prominently characterized by her kindness and genuine care for others. 

Josh was similar in that way. He was usually the one helping Tyler out whenever he felt down, but this time, the roles were reversed. Tyler had to help his friend. 

"It's okay, Mrs. Dun," Tyler politely shook his head. "I was just going to go upstairs to hang out with Josh." He began subconsciously climbing up the stairs before Mrs. Dun was able to respond (leaving the woman in mid-word, mouthing agape); he was too desperate to make sure his best friend was okay.

Gathering the courage to knock on Josh's door was the hardest part. Tyler stood for a minute, trying to collect different ideas of what to say. However, the mesh of thoughts in his brain was too tangled to decode, so Tyler simply knocked. No plan, no idea. Just intuition. 

Tyler heard footsteps from inside the room, his stomach lurching forward as they grew louder. Before his mind could process the image, the door was flung open, and a flop of faded red hair stood still in front of him. 

Josh wanted to speak, but the words remained crystalized, frozen on his tongue. 

Tyler mustered up something, deciding on saying, "Josh, what's been up?" 

Josh shrugged with tight shoulders, anxiety building tension in his muscles. This was something that was disrupting his routine. This was not supposed to happen. Tyler was not supposed to show up. This is not what he planned. 

Now, not only were his words frozen, but Josh himself stood paralyzed in the doorframe. 

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out, maybe to grab Taco Bell or play some video games?" Tyler fumbled for a cohesive sentence but let out a sigh of relief when he accomplished that goal. 

However, the other boy was even more anxious. Josh's words didn't seem to save him, but his feet somehow successfully stepped out of the way and his hands somehow successfully motioned Tyler to enter. 

Tyler took a seat on the white carpeting while Josh found a position on the bed. Josh could hear his heart beating from his chest, the pulsation throbbing. His head was spinning, his palms were clammy, and he absolutely did not want to talk about this. 

"So, video games?" Tyler followed up. 

Josh nodded, his shock masked by the intense surge of fear. He pulled out his extra controller, the one sitting lonely while charging in the corner of his room. Its sharp black was a contrast to the muddy grey color that his own, overused controller rotted to. 

Josh pulled out Mario Kart without even asking Tyler. He just knew that it was their go-to game.

Tyler smiled lightly while watching Josh. Seeing his best friend for the first time in over a month hit him with a rush of euphoria, one that overcame the jittery feeling that dominated his senses all day, all month.

"We can talk about you later," Tyler said, as the home screen to the game was loading. "I vote to enjoy the game now," he continued, which was code for enjoying each other's missed company. 

Josh nodded, uncovering a deep, hidden smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I apologize that this one isn't too good.


End file.
